For a moment I thought I saw (your eyelids rise)
by ADayDream'sDream
Summary: For a second I thought I saw / Your eyelids rise / A moment something restless / Caught you by surprise


Diego had always dreaded the call coming in though he took them every time.

"Mr. Hargreeves, this is Mercy Hospital. We're calling about your brother Klaus…"

"Is this Diego Hargreeves, we have a John Doe that gave us your number…"

"Diego Hargreeves, this is Amber Run Rehab, we need you to sign a consent to treat form for Klaus…"

He wasn't sure why he did it to himself, why he tortured himself waiting for the one call that said they needed him to identify a body. The many therapists he visited said he needed to cut away the things that pulled him down and Klaus was like a two-ton weight dragging him to the bottom of the Hudson. Still, he couldn't reach down and undo the rope that held his brother to his ankle. He recognized the reverse of the situation. He was the large blimp that was keeping Klaus floating by a wrist, feeding him the sporadic meals when Klaus would show up at the gym, half sober and growing skinnier each time. Diego gave him old coats in the wintertime and cut his curly hair short in the summer. He was the only soft touch that Klaus probably ever got and Klaus needed that soft touch to keep from going over the edge completely. So, Diego answered each call from the hospitals, rehabs, and police. He took out loans and worked extra jobs to pay the bills that piled up. It wasn't until they were twenty-five and it was a snowy Christmas Eve that Diego finally had to put his foot down. Klaus knew he always went to Christmas Eve mass, the one little bit of faith Diego allowed in his life. When the phone rang as he was walking out the door, he paused but kept going, letting it ring.

"Sorry, Mr. Hargreeves. Looks like no one is going to answer. Is there anyone else?" The nurse asked and Klaus let out a little hiccupping sob. He nodded

"Allie. Allison Hargreeves. I dn't know the number. She's famous. Tell her secretary that I'm having surgery." Klaus said. The nurse nodded with a smile. Klaus let out a soft sob when she left the room. He wanted Diego, not Allison who would chastise him for being in a bad part of town. Diego never got mad at him, never complained about his drugs, his homelessness. Diego never cared that Klaus had no one else he was just there for Klaus because he was a good person. The nurse returned and gave him a smile

"I actually spoke to your sister. She's dropping everything and will be here in three hours. Just in time to see you when you wake hopefully." The nurse said and Klaus nodded

"I'm going to take you down now. Don't worry. This surgery won't be nearly as dangerous as the first." She said and Klaus nodded, eyes sliding shut as she fit the sedative-laced oxygen mask on his face. He was asleep before they reached the doors to the OR.

Allison pace the waiting room to Mercy Hospital's OR. She had called Vanya and told her what little she actually knew before the musician had rushed to the hospital to be there. Luther had simply said he would tell dad that something had happened and hung up. Allison hadn't been told much, apparently, it was still an active case. Something about a drive-by shooting and how Klaus had been a hero, jumping in front of a six-year-old girl who had been in the path of some bullets. Klaus had already had two surgeries as a John Doe, one to get a new liver and one to patch a hole in his lung. The liver had been lucky, one of the other victims of the shooting had been a match and the family had agreed to give it to Klaus. This last surgery was to remove the last bullet from where it was lodged behind his kidney and the nurses hadn't seemed worried. Claire sat in a chair beside Patrick as she stalked back to the desk

"Any word on Klaus Hargreeves?" She asked and the nurse checked the computer

"There was a complication. It's going to be a bit longer, ma'am." The nurse said as she had for the past three times Allison had asked about Klaus

"What kind of complication?" Allison asked and the nurse gave her a pitying smile

"I don't know. I'm sorry." She said and Allison huffed. She stalked back over to Patrick and dialed Diego again, hoping the idiot would pick up. It rang twice before he finally did pick up

"Allie, I know it's only twelve on the west coast but it's three in the morning here," Diego said groggily

"I know. I'm sitting in the OR waiting room at Mercy Hospital where Klaus is in surgery." Allison snapped. Vanya woke from where she was curled with a start at the tone of Allison's voice but she relaxed when she saw that there wasn't anyone knew in the waiting room

"Shit. I'm on my way." Diego said sounding suddenly much more alert. Allison hung up with an annoyed noise and Patrick rested a hand on her arm

"I'm going to go get everyone some coffee." He said and Claire jumped to her feet

"I'll come!" She said happily. Allison smiled.

"Thanks. Get a black one for Diego." She said and Patrick nodded. Vanya gave her order of a vanilla chai and the two left to go to the Starbucks around the corner to get the drinks. Diego arrived fifteen minutes later, ten minutes after they had returned with the coffee, and Allison handed him his.

"What happened?" He asked and Allison laid out what she knew. Diego pulled his phone out

"Who are you calling?" Claire asked and Diego gave her a tight smile

"An old police friend." He said as the phone rang

"Hey, Eudora? Yeah, I know what time it is. Yeah, I know it's Christmas. My brother is in the OR right now getting a bullet removed from behind his kidney. Yeah, Klaus. Is there anything you can tell me? No, no. Promise. Yeah, I mean it. Fine." Diego handed the phone to her seeming grumpy

"Hello?" Allison asked and a light chuckle on the other end

"This is Detective Eudora Patch. I told Diego I wouldn't tell him anything because I know him. The men responsible are being picked up tomorrow. If Klaus pulls through the surgery, we're hoping he can ID them." The voice on the other end of the line said

"Why couldn't you say this to my brother?" Allison asked confused

"Because he would race to get to them first. He's protective of Klaus. Everyone knows he's worked himself into so much debt just to pay Klaus' medical bills and bail money. He's too proud to ask your father for any of it so he works three jobs and has enough loans to put a kid through college but he never complains. He takes care of Klaus because he knew Klaus needed him. It's why he never left the city I think, no matter how many times he talked about how the shadow of the Academy still smothered him." Eudora said. Allison glanced over at her brother, almost seeing the Latino in a new light. He had dark circles under his eyes and smudges of grease in the cracks on his hands. He looked older than the rest of them like he had been forced to age quickly and Allison wondered how often she had taken how much money she had for granted when he was struggling under the debt of trying to take care of their brother.

"Thanks," Allison said. She passed the phone back to Diego and rose to ask the nurse about Klaus again. The nurse saw her coming and smiled at her

"He's in a recovery room. Give him another ten minutes and he'll be awake and ready for visitors." She said. Allison mumbled thanks and turned to give the good news to the rest of them. She checked her watch to make sure she knew when ten minutes passed. When no one came after fifteen she went back up to the desk

"He's not quite awake yet. Give him another ten to twenty minutes." The nurse said, her smile not so bright anymore. Something was wrong. Allison returned to the others and Diego must have caught something in her eyes.

"It'll be okay, right?" Vanya asked. Diego frowned

"A doctor hasn't come out to tell us about the surgery. When he broke two of his ribs, a doc was out within fifteen minutes of the surgery being done." Diego said. That tidbit made Allison frown

"When did he break his ribs?" She asked and Diego shrugged

"Two, two and a half years ago, I think. It was June, he was high and being an idiot like always." He said sounding fond and exasperated, "I've nearly paid the bill off, don't worry about it." He added and she frowned. He thought she was worried about the money? Klaus was her brother and she hadn't even known he had broken his ribs. _But Diego struggles with money. His whole world revolves around paying the bills and having enough to scrape by. Of course, he's worried that you're worried about the money. He's probably already doing the math on how he's going to pay for this visit._ A little voice in her head whispered.

"I'm sure one will be out soon." Vanya said sounding nervous. They sat there quietly; Claire having fallen asleep after her hot chocolate. At four-thirty in the morning, a man in a doctor's coat came out and walked over. He looked grim

"There was a complication during the surgery and then another afterward. Klaus is stable but in a coma." The doctor said. Vanya gasped and Allison felt her heart clench.

"What does that mean?" Diego asked

"Well, we did a cat scan and there is a significant amount of brain activity. He's not braindead which is good. He could wake at any moment we just don't know when." The doctor said

"He was getting a bullet removed from behind his kidney." Vanya said sounding shocked. The doctor nodded

"During the surgery, there was a blood clot. We got it fixed but oxygen stopped flowing to his brain for a minute. We think this may have caused the coma." He said and Vanya let out a soft sob.

"Can we see him?" Patrick asked and the doctor nodded

"Two at a time." He said before he stepped away.

"Allison, you go with Vanya, then Patrick and Claire. I'll go last." Diego said and Allison nodded. She made sure her and Vanya's time with Klaus was quick. He really did look like he was sleeping, even his eyes seemed to move under the thin skin of his eyelids like he was watching something move rapidly in front of him.

"Sweet dreams, Klaus." Vanya said softly as the left the room. Patrick and Claire weren't much longer and the four of them left the hospital to go get breakfast and give Diego some privacy with Klaus.

On the day that Reginald Hargreeves died, Diego Hargreeves was sitting in his brother's hospital room reading to him. It started as a normal visit; Diego was halfway through chapter fifteen of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson when Klaus' hand twitched. It wasn't unusual and had been happening more often so Diego paused and rubbed out the cramp that must have formed in the Séance's wrist. What he didn't expect to happen was for Klaus to close his hand around Diego's as he started to pull away.

"Klaus?" Diego asked and Klaus' hand tightened.


End file.
